Cast concrete post



June 24, 1969 c. L. ROBERTS 3,451,657

CAST CONCRETE POST Filed Aug. 136, 1968 Clifford L. Robens,

INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

United States Patent Oflice 3,451,657 Patented June 24, 1969 Int. Cl.E04c 3/34 US. Cl. 256-19 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Theinvention is a novel cast concrete post, the lower portion of which isadapted to be buried in the earth. That portion of the post extendingabove the earth is provided with a plurality of holes extendingtherethrough transversely of the longitudinal axis of the post. A numberof these holes lie in a plane through this longitudinal axis and furtherof these holes lie in a plane also through the axis but orthogonal tothe first plane. However, the holes in the different planes do notintersect. An integral lower base portion extends outwardly from thelower portion of the post to a plane orthogonal to the longitudinal axisof the post to provide resistance against lateral forces acting on thepost above the earth.

The partially burying of posts in the earth for purposes of mounting orsupporting fencing, gates, signs, fixtures and the like has long beenknown. The utility of this practice has proven itself over hundreds ofyears in all areas of endeavor. However, through this long period oftime there has been one basic drawback. That is, these posts wereconstructed from wood.

Wood, as is well known, is adversely alfected by moisture, weather, dryrot and wood damaging insects such as powder post beetles and termites.In order to overcome these problems, it was the general technique formany years to use only selected species of trees from which to fabricateposts that were to be in contact with the earth or to be used inexterior applications. Redwood was such a selected species. Thistechnique proved to 'be an improvement over the practice of no selectionbut still left a lot to be desired since even redwood and similar typelumher was affected by the weather, moisture and rot.

Another technique was to paint or dip that portion of the posts to beburied in the earth with or in such chemicals as creosote to help resistthe elements and insects. Also, the posts were oiled and then painted toseal out the effects of moisture. These methods gave even moreprotection than before but still had disadvantages in that the processhad to be often repeated to preserve the wood and the buried portion ofthe post could not easily be removed for the re-application of thepreservative or paint.

More recently, pressure soaking techniques have been developed thatforce the preservative throughout the timber and thus lengthen theamount of time between the necessary treatments.

In modern times, the trend has been to look to a substitute for timberthat will better withstand the eflfects of nature Such a substitute aresuch materialsas metal and concrete. Metals have a problem that issomewhat similar to that of wood; namely, deterioration throughoxidation such as rust if not painted regularly. Another retardation ofoxidation technique is to preoxidize certain metals that have thecharacteristic of resisting further oxidation. However, this is a rathercostly method of protection and not applicable to most metals.

Concrete on the other hand has a very good resistance to naturecharacteristic and will function well while ex posed to the elements formany numbers of years. These concrete columns are easily cast and havebeen used to support telephone, electric power and street lights, toname but a few examples. Also, it is well known that concrete is notaffected by beetles, termites or other insects. Even with these obviousadvantages over timber, concrete has not been extensively used forsmaller-sized applications such as fence and gate posts and light-weightcarrying standards or supports.

The problem that has been heretofore present in the use of concretefence posts and the like is that it was difficult to attach fencingmaterials such as wire, rails, hinges and other hardware for gates, etc.to these posts. Also, it was found that due to the fact that concreteposts were considerably heavier than wooden posts of the same size,there was a tendency for such concrete posts to fall over when the earthin which their lower extermities became damp through the action of rainor irrigation.

In order to overcome this shortcoming, cast concrete posts have beenmanufactured that are much longer than comparable wooden post to be usedin the same application, so that more of the post could be buried belowthe earth. This, of course, helped the situationbut led to higher costs,much greater weight, and required deeper holes. However, these postsstill did not provide an easy method of mounting fencing and the like.

Thus, it should be quite evident that a concrete post that had all theadvantages of the use of concrete over wood and also had the advantageof providing ease of supporting fencing materials and hardware and theability to stand erect in spite of damp or wet footing and under heavyloads would be a significant advancement of the art.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide animproved cast concrete post.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a cast concretepost that is easily formed, is inexpensive and is reliable over extendedperiods of time.

-It is still another object of the invention to provide a cast concretepost that will withstand heavy vertical and lateral loads in damp andwet terrain while not requiring an extended length that must be buried.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a castconcrete post that facilitates the attachment of fencing, gates, signs,fixtures, etc.

The foregoing advantages are provided according to I one embodiment ofthe invention by an elongated post section having in that portionthereof that extends above the earth a plurality of holes extendingtherethrough transversely to the longitudinal axis of the post section.A number of these holes are in a first plane lying along thelongitudinal axis and a further number of these holes are in a secondplane lying along this axis but orthogonal to the first plane. The holesin the different planes, however, do not intersect. The cast concretepost also has an integral lower base portion extending outwardly fromthe lower portion thereof, adapted to be buried in the earth, to a planeorthogonal to the aforementioned longitudinal axis.

According to the invention, the cast concrete post may have a square orround cross section and may include reinforcing members embedded thereinsuch as steel rods. Also, these rods may be pre-stressed for additionalstrength and ability to bend without fracturing.

The invention and specific embodiments thereof will be describedhereinafter by way of example and with reference to the accompanyingdrawing wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements or parts,and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cast concrete post constructedaccording to one embodiment of the invention supporting a wire fence;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a post constructed according to anotherembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the post of FIG. 2 supporting thejoined ends of two fence rail sections; and

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the post of FIG. 1 supporting gatehardware and an associated gate.

With reference now to the drawing and more particularly to FIG. 1, thereis shown a square cast concrete post 11, a lower portion 13 of which isto be buried in the earth and having a number of holes 15 in one planelying along the longitudinal axis 17 of the post 11 and another numberof holes 19 in another plane lying along the axis 17 but orthogonal tothe first plane. The holes 15 and 19 are positioned above the lowerportion 13 and are arranged so as not to intersect each other in ordernot to block any holes in the opposite plane and further to allow themost advantageous use of the holes available. The lower portion 13 isprovided with an integral base portion 21 of square cross section andextending outwardly from the lower post portion 13 to a lane orthogonalto the axis 17.

The holes 15 and the holes 17 need not be positioned along the post 11with equidistant spacing for the length of the post, but may be groupedin numbers of four or five with greater spacing between such groups, forexample. Also, the integral base portion 21 need not have the same upperinclination 23 shown in the figures.

The cross section of the concrete post may be of any desired crosssectional configuration. For example, instead of the square crosssection as shown in FIG. 1, the cast concrete post, according to anotherembodiment of the invention, may have a circular cross section as shownin FIG. 2. Here, a cast concrete post 51 of circular cross section isshown having a lower section 53 adapted to be buried in the earth, atthe lower portion of which is an integral base portion 55 also ofcircular cross section.

This embodiment also includes two orthogonally disposed sets of holes 57and 59 and again the top of integral base portion is shown having aninclined surface 61.

The lower portion of the posts shown in the first two figures areadapted to be buried in the earth and towithstand the forces of natureas well as heavy loads not always exerted directly along thelongitudinal axis of the posts. These off-axis or lateral loads wouldtend, in prior art devices, to force the post to lean or fall over. Thiswas especially true where the earth was not dry for any reason. However,due to the integral base portion of the posts of the invention, thistends not to happen.

The posts constructed according to the present invention are buried byfirst boring or otherwise making a hole 63 in the earth 65 of sufficientdimensions to accept the integral base portion 55 of the post 51. Then,the hole 63 is filed on top of the base 55 and preferably packed 67. Theinclined top of the base has the advantage over the prior art by addingto the strength of the post and further adding to the ability of thepost to withstand lateral loads.

FIG. 3 illustrates the manner in which the overlapping ends 71 and 73 oftwo fence rails 75 and 77 may be supported by the passing of a bolt 79through a hole 57 in the post 51 and secured by a nut 31.

A fence gate 101 is shown in FIG. 4 being supported by the post 11 bymeans of a U-bolt 103 positioned through a hole 15 and a hinge 105 andthat is secured by nuts 107 (only one shown).

Other types of fencing material may be advantageously supported by thecast concrete posts above described. For example, wires 151 as seen inFIG. 1 may be strung through the holes cast in the post or U-bolts, notshown, may be used to hold the wire. The latter is especiallyadvantageous where barbed wire is to be used. In the event that thefence wire is to be electrified, it may be advantageous to place tubularinsulative inserts (not shown) in the holes to prevent the possibilityof leakage in damp weather.

Of course, fence railings may be supported at other positions than attheir ends as was the case shown in FIG. 3. Thus, such rails 171 and 173are shown in FIG. 2 as being so supported by a bolt 175 and 177,respectively.

In order to strengthen these cast concrete posts, reinforcing rods 201may be embedded in the posts, which rods extend along the length of theposts and then flare outwardly into the integral base portion (see FIG.1). Only the lower portion of these rods is shown for the sake ofclarity. Additionally, these rods (preferaby of steel) may bepre-stressed to provide a degree of resilience to the posts.

In practicing the invention, any desirable composition of concrete andcross sectional configuration may be used. Also, other types of fencingmaterials and gates may be supported by these posts. The typicaldimension of such a post constructed according to the invention has thefollowing dimensions: post cross sectional dimension, 4" x 4"; base, 10"x 10"; length, 4' above the earth and 2. below; and /2 diameter holes.

From the foregoing, it will be evident that the invention provides animproved and very useful cast concrete post that has considerablestrength and the ability to withstand all climatical conditions andsevere lateral forces without leaning or falling over, even in damp orwet terrain.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described indetail, other organizations of the embodiments shown may be made withinth spirit and scope of the invention.

Accordingly, it is intended that the foregoing disclosure and drawingshall be considered only as illustrations of the principles of thisinvention and are not to be construed in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A cast concrete post, a lower portion of which is to be buried in theearth, comprising:

an elongated post section having in that portion to extend above theearth a plurality of holes extending therethrough transversely to thelongitudinal axis of said post section, a number of said holes being ina first plane lying along said longitudinal axi and a further number ofsaid holes being in a second plane lying along said longitudinal axisorthogonal to said first plane,- said holes in different planes notcommunicating with each other; and

an integral lower base portion extending outwardly from said lowerportion to a plane orthogonal to said longitudinal axis.

2. A cast concrete post according to claim 1, wherein said elongatedpost section has a square cross section.

3. A cast concrete post according to claim 1, wherein said elongatedpost section has a circular cross section.

4. A cast concrete post according to claim 1, wherein the holes in eachof said planes are spaced equidistant in groups of four with a largerspacing between said groups.

5. A cast concrete post according to claim 1, wherein the uppermostsurface of said integral base portion is inclined as it approaches saidlower portion from the outer extremities of said base portion.

6. A cast concrete post according to claim 5, wherein a plurality ofreinforcing members are embedded in said post, each extending along saidelongated post section and into said integral base portion to saidextremities.

7. A cast concrete post according to claim 6, wherein said reinforcingmembers are steel rods.

8. A cast concrete post according to claim 7, wherein said steel rodsare stressed.

(References on following page) References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTSFOREIGN PATENTS 687,129 5/1964 Canada. g gfi i 9i DENNIS L. TAYLOR,Primary Examiner. Mitchell 256-19 5 Covey 256-19 U.S. C1. X.R. Banister25619 6 14111616 1116 2,56 22 25 T47

